ABSTRACT
This chapter has reviewed some key policy responses to the notion of sustainable development outlined in the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). There are many more, including national sustainable development plans and more local Agenda 21 plans. It also discusses discourse analysis of the epistemological difficulties, lack of agreement on ethics, internal inconsistencies and proposals for participation of the intergovernmental sustainable development literature, by examining key post WCED documents produced by the UN, the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) states early on that difficulties of knowledge are a significant limitation upon which to plan and implement appropriate measures. The Forest Principles are principles for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. There is little analysis of the reasons for lack of progress on sustainable development in this intergovernmental literature.
